On 15 May 2014, 50-year-old Ali Mustafa was taken from his house by a large number of Israeli soldiers dressed in uniforms, who did not present an arrest warrant or informed him of the reasons for his arrest. Brought to Ofer Prison, located between Ramallah and Beituniya, 3km east, the Imam remained there until 5 June 2014 before being transferred to Ktzi'ot Prison in the Negev desert. Immediately after his arrest, an administrative order was issued determining that Ali Mustafa was to stay in administrative detention for five months; however, the order was renewed several times without justification, the last time on 14 September 2015. Although Ali Mustafa was last supposed to be released on 15 September 2015, he is now expected to spend four additional months in administrative detention.

The renewal of Ali Mustafa's detention is particularly alarming considering that he is not given adequate conditions of detention in view of his disability, as he receives no assistance to move inside the prison and has his hands and feet cuffed every time he is taken to another place. The Imam therefore faces extreme difficulties to move, both inside and outside the prison. In fact, he is even blindfolded when taken to places outside the detention facility, which shows that his blindness is constantly ignored by the detaining authorities.

Prior to his arrest on 15 May 2014, Ali Mustafa was arrested and detained six times on the basis of administrative orders, but was never formally charged or officially tried before a court. His case files are not accessible to his lawyer as they are deemed "secret" by the Israeli authorities. His family believes that he is being persecuted because of his activities as an Imam.

"The detention of this blind Imam for over 16 months without charges or trial is unacceptable, particularly in view of his condition," says Inès Osman, Legal Officer for the Mashreq at Alkarama. "The Israeli authorities must refrain from using the discriminatory practice of administrative detention to arbitrarily detain Palestinians for unlimited periods of time, as demanded by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights many times, including in April 2015," she continues.

Concerned about both the renewal of his detention and the conditions he must endure − and following a first communication sent to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on 19 June 2015 − on 18 September 2015, Alkarama submitted an urgent appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, asking this UN Special procedure on human rights to call upon the Israeli authorities to release Ali Mustafa Ahmad Hanoon immediately.

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